Short answer: The Turkish central bank exchange rate is a set of indicative rates that the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB) announces at 15:30 on full business days, calculated from interbank quotes between 10:00 and 15:00. It binds nobody and banks set their own dealing rates; bulletin 2026/208 of 5 November 2026 shows USD 1 = TRY 49.9589 forex buying. Programs can read it from today.xml or a dated URL, which returns 404 on weekends, holidays and half days, while Turkish VAT uses the rate printed in that day's Resmî Gazete, which is the previous bulletin.
This guide is for finance teams who need to know which official rate applies and developers adding Turkish rates to an invoicing, reporting or trading system. It does not show a live rate, compare banks or say where the lira is heading; an official rate is a reference, not a price you can deal at.
Everything here was read on 5 November 2026 and rechecked on 6 November 2026. Parsing code for the daily files is in TCMB API: exchange rates from today.xml and EVDS in Python, and EVDS, TCMB's separate data service with its own key, is covered in TEFAS, KAP and EVDS data APIs.
Turkey central bank exchange rate today: what is published and when
TCMB announces one set of indicative rates (gösterge niteliğindeki kurlar) at 15:30 on each full business day and none on weekends, public holidays or half days, according to its rates page read on 6 November 2026.
| Currency | Forex buying | Forex selling | Banknote buying | Banknote selling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD 1 | 49.9589 | 50.0489 | 49.9239 | 50.1239 |
| EUR 1 | 56.1513 | 56.2524 | 56.1120 | 56.3368 |
| GBP 1 | 67.1917 | 67.5420 | 67.1447 | 67.6433 |
| JPY 100 | 31.4957 | 31.7043 | 31.3792 | 31.8248 |
The 5 November file carries a Last-Modified header of 12:30:01 GMT, which is 15:30 in Turkey. The rates also run in the Resmî Gazete the next day. Older series, back to 1950, are in EVDS according to TCMB's rates page.
For a live lira rate you need a market data source. Policy rates are a separate subject, covered in Turkey interest rate.
How TCMB calculates the indicative rate
Since 2 January 2015, TCMB has averaged banks' dollar quotes at six hourly points from 10:00 to 15:00 and derived every other rate from that midpoint, according to its rates page.
- At each hour, TCMB averages the buy and sell quotes banks give for USD 1 in the interbank market.
- The six values are averaged into one midpoint.
- A discount and a premium on the midpoint give the two forex rates.
- Cross rates taken at the same six times are averaged and applied to the dollar midpoint in the same way.
So the 15:30 figure describes the market from morning to mid-afternoon, not the market at 15:30, and any move after 15:00 waits for the next bulletin.
Forex and banknote rates, buying and selling
Forex columns apply to transfers between accounts and banknote columns (efektif) to physical cash, and each pair has a buying side and a selling side from the viewpoint of the institution.
- Forex buying (döviz alış). The rate Turkish rules name most often.
- Forex selling (döviz satış). Slightly higher: in bulletin 2026/208 the dollar spread was 0.18% (50.0489 ÷ 49.9589 − 1).
- Banknote buying and selling. Wider: the dollar spread was 0.40% that day (50.1239 ÷ 49.9239 − 1).
Illustrative arithmetic, bulletin 2026/208: EUR 10,000 valued at forex buying (56.1513) is TRY 561,513, and at banknote buying (56.1120) TRY 561,120. These are reference values, not prices you can deal at.
Why bank and card rates differ from the central bank rate
TCMB's page says its indicative rates bind no person or institution and that parties decide for themselves which rate to use, so a bank, card issuer or exchange office prices its own deals. The same page says TCMB itself may use the rates at its counters and in some accounting operations one business day after they are set.
A dealing rate is set at the moment of the deal and includes the provider's margin, while the indicative rate averages the hours up to 15:00. A card payment is converted on a date and at a rate the card agreement sets.
Which TCMB rate applies to tax, invoices and funds?
Under the VAT Communiqué, VAT uses the TCMB forex buying rate printed in the Resmî Gazete on the day of the taxable event, while other rules name their own rates and some name none.
| Use | What the text says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| VAT on a price in foreign currency | The Law says the current rate at the taxable event; the Communiqué makes that the forex buying rate in that day's Resmî Gazete, and the current market rate for currencies not printed there | VAT Law Art. 26; VAT General Implementation Communiqué, III/A-1.1 |
| Goods exports on the VAT return | The same Gazette rate on the customs declaration's closing date, or the last earlier Gazette with rates | VAT Communiqué, II/A-1.1.1 |
| Invoices in foreign currency | Allowed if the lira equivalent is shown; documents for customers abroad need no lira equivalent. This provision names no rate | Tax Procedure Law Art. 215(2)(a) |
| Year-end tax valuation | Currencies with no exchange-market price use the Ministry's list; if the Ministry has announced none for the valuation day, TCMB forex buying, or banknote buying for cash (forex buying where there is no banknote rate). Banks use the buying rates they set under TCMB's rules and actually applied | Tax Procedure Law Art. 280; Communiqué No. 590 (24 January 2026, for end-2025) |
| Investment fund valuation of foreign-currency assets | TCMB's 15:30 indicative forex buying rate | TSPB valuation directive |
| Foreign currency sold to TCMB in property sales to foreign nationals | A separate TCMB forex buying rate announced at 11:00 on the conversion day, not the 15:30 rate | TCMB instruction under Capital Movements Circular Art. 13, Art. 3(1)(b) as amended 1 October 2026 |
The Gazette wording moves the date back one bulletin. The taxable event is usually the delivery or service, or an earlier invoice (VAT Law Art. 10). The Gazette of 5 November 2026 printed bulletin 2026/207, set at 15:30 on 4 November, so an event on 5 November uses USD 49.9360, not that day's 49.9589, and an invoice issued at 09:00 already has its rate. The Gazette prints a table only after a day with a bulletin:
| Gazette date, 2026 | Rate table printed |
|---|---|
| Wed 28 Oct | 2026/203, set 27 Oct |
| Thu 29 Oct | No Gazette published |
| Fri 30 Oct | None |
| Sat 31 Oct | 2026/204, set 30 Oct |
| Sun 1 Nov, Mon 2 Nov | None |
| Tue 3 Nov | 2026/205, set 2 Nov |
| Wed 4 Nov | 2026/206, set 3 Nov |
| Thu 5 Nov | 2026/207, set 4 Nov |
| Fri 6 Nov | 2026/208, set 5 Nov |
The general VAT passage does not say what applies on a day with no table. The export passage falls back to the last Gazette with rates, which in every row above is the latest bulletin dated before that day; agree with your accountant whether to use the same rule for other invoices. Exchange differences on later payment also enter the VAT base (VAT Law Art. 24/c). See also Turkey VAT rate and refund.
Which TCMB file holds the rate for a given day?
Each bulletin is an XML file: https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/kurlar/today.xml holds the latest one, https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/kurlar/YYYYMM/DDMMYYYY.xml holds the one set on a given date, and a missing file means no rate was set that day.
| What you need | Where it is | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| The latest bulletin | today.xml | Its Tarih and Bulten_No: at 02:26 Turkish time on 6 November it still held bulletin 2026/208 of 5 November |
| The bulletin set on a date | The dated file | HTTP 404 means no bulletin: 28 October (half day), 29 October (holiday), 31 October and 1 November (weekend), and 6 November at 02:26, before that day's release |
| The VAT rate for a day | The dated file of the latest bulletin before that day | The same bulletin as in the Gazette table above; for a day with no table, see the note under it |
| Yen and empty fields | Any bulletin | JPY is quoted per 100 yen (Unit 100); 10 of the 22 rows have no banknote rates, and XDR has no forex selling rate |
| Currencies outside the 22 | https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/bilgiamackur/today.xml | 49 information-only rates, one ExchangeRate field each and no bulletin number; the Gazette table of 5 November does not include them |
Parsing code, caching and more failure cases are in TCMB API: exchange rates from today.xml and EVDS in Python. Whatever system does the conversion, store the bulletin number and date next to each converted amount, so an auditor can trace it.
Can you use the TCMB feed in a product?
Quoting is allowed with attribution, but TCMB's disclaimer page makes commercial use of the site's information "subject to prior written permission of the CBRT", so a commercial product should ask first.
The disclaimer, read 6 November 2026, lets information be quoted with a specific reference to the source and accepts no liability for timeliness, accuracy, completeness or access. Neither the disclaimer nor the rates pages set terms for the XML files or offer a service level, so:
- Ask TCMB in writing before building a paid product on the files, and keep the answer.
- Show the source and the bulletin date next to any rate you display.
- Plan for an unavailable feed: keep the last good bulletin and flag it as stale.
- Do not present the rate as tradable, and do not poll: one bulletin a day means one successful fetch after 15:30 is enough.
TCMB said in 2014 that the address of its XML rate files would not change, and January 2024 files still opened there on 6 November 2026. For data integration work in general, see Fincode's market data pipelines page; Fincode's Turkey economic data page lists other official indicators.
Frequently asked questions
What time does the Turkish central bank publish exchange rates?
At 15:30 Turkish time on full business days, according to TCMB; the rates also appear in the Resmî Gazete the next day. No rate is set on weekends, public holidays or half days.
Is the TCMB rate the rate I will get at a bank?
No. TCMB says its indicative rates bind no one, and banks, card issuers and exchange offices set their own rates. Use your provider's quote for a real transaction.
Which exchange rate should a Turkish invoice use?
For VAT, the VAT General Implementation Communiqué uses TCMB's forex buying rate printed in the Resmî Gazete on the day of the taxable event, normally the previous bulletin. Tax Procedure Law Article 215 separately requires the lira equivalent on foreign-currency documents, except for customers abroad.
Can I use today.xml in a commercial app?
TCMB's disclaimer requires prior written permission for commercial use of its site's information, so ask before launching a paid product, and credit the source with the bulletin date.
Sources
- TCMB: Indicative exchange rates, method, times and use (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Indicative Exchange Rates page, rates by date and EVDS link (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: today.xml, the latest bulletin (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Bulletin 2026/208, 5 November 2026 (XML) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Bulletin 2026/207, 4 November 2026 (XML) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: TCMB rate table printed on 5 November 2026, bulletin 2026/207 (Turkish, image) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Disclaimer (quotation and commercial use) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Press release 2014-64 on the new website and XML-only rates (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: Tax Procedure Law No. 213, Articles 215 and 280 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 590, 24 January 2026, No. 33147 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: VAT Law No. 3065, Articles 10, 24 and 26 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Mevzuat: VAT General Implementation Communiqué, sections II/A-1.1.1 and III/A-1.1 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TSPB: Directive on valuation of collective investment portfolio assets, published on KAP (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- Resmî Gazete: notice that no Gazette was published on 29 October 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
- TCMB: Instruction on foreign exchange sales under Article 13 of the Capital Movements Circular, as amended 1 October 2026 (Turkish) (opens in a new tab)
This guide is general information, not investment, legal or tax advice. Amounts, rates and rules in Turkey change often: check the date given for each figure and the official source before you rely on it, and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.